You want to know about Dana Hunter, then, do you? I'm a science blogger, SF writer, compleat geology addict, Gnu Atheist, and owner of a - excuse me, owned by a homicidal felid. I loves me some Doctor Who and Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers. Sums me up. I'm a Midwest-born Southwesterner transplanted to the Pacific Northwest, which should explain some personality quirks, the tendency to sprinkle Spanish around, and why I'll subject you to some real jawbreakers in the place names department. My cobloggers, Karen Locke, Jacob and Steamforged, and I are delighted to be your cantineras y cantinero. Join us for una tequila. And feel free to follow @dhunterauthor on Twitter. Salud!

Writing

Search ETEV

Dana Hunter is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to En Tequila Es Verdad.

EVENTS

Unidentified Flying Dinosaur: Batman Among the Blueberries

My supervisor, Shelli, is teh awesome, and has sent me one of the greatest UFDs of all time. Check this birdie out:

Mystery Bird I

She says he just sat there while she crept up with her cell phone in hand, tilting his head this way and that, completely without fear. I think he was mesmerized by the horns on her phone’s case. Besides, it’s blue. Maybe he thought it was an enormous rectangular blueberry.

Mystery Bird II

He looks like a fledgeling of some sort. Hopefully, your bird-fu is good enough to identify even teh bebbies. If it helps, this photo was taken sometime around late July-early August. And, obviously, it was at a blueberry farm. Bryant Blueberry Farm in Arlington, Washington, in fact. Shelli goes there every summer, because, she says, “they keep them really well tended. I’ve been to lesser blueberry farms, and they only make me keep going there [to Bryant]. They keep their rows completely mowed and weeded, you can actually sit right under a bush and eat berries.” This is, of course, in between your bird-stalking activities.

With this testimonial, I believe Shelli should get at least one free admission this summer.

I shall provide a convenient map for those who may wish to go look for Batman* and eat blueberries themselves:

There is also a kangaroo farm there. With actual kangaroos. And koalas. And wallabies. Any fan of Rocko’s Modern Life has got to want the wallabies. I think I’m going to force my intrepid companion to go adventuring with me this summer. Blueberries and Aussie animals. What could be better?

Well, some geology (pdf). There’s a terrace or bench there, upon which the Arlington Heights neighborhood sits. Everything’s pretty much glacial outwash, it appears, although the bedrock looks wild: “sandstone, shale, conglomerate, andesite,basalt, and metamorphased sedimentary and igneous rock.” Okay. That tells me this area’s had a rather eventful history, even before it got mauled by ice sheets, and if I can find any bedrock outcrops round there, I’ll be completely excited. Besides, the Skagit River Valley is exquisitely lovely, and the Cascades are right there, and it’s just a quick hop over to the San Juan Islands…

“When the end of a twig holds a supply of berries that only one bird at a time can reach, members of a flock may line up along the twig and pass berries beak to beak down the line so that each bird gets a chance to eat.”